Cherokee Trail senior Brandon Singleton celebrates his victory in the 200 meter final at the Class 5A state track meet on May 17, 2014, at Jefferson County Stadium. Singleton also won a state title in the 400 meters as well. (Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)
AURORA | City athletes and teams won a combined three state championships and nine individual event titles between the Class 5A state track meet at Jefferson County Stadium, the Class 5A boys state swim meet at the Veteran’s Memorial Aquatic Center, the Class 5A boys state lacrosse game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High and the Class 5A girls state golf tournament at Raccoon Creek G.C. Here’s a quick look at each state champion and how they won:
TEAM
Regis Jesuit: Class 5A boys swimming — The Raiders’ water dynasty continued with one of the largest victories the team has had during a run that now includes 19 state championships in the past 20 seasons. Under the guidance of new coach Nick Frasersmith, who took over for retired guru Mike Doherty, Regis Jesuit piled up 410 points on May 17 to more than double that of runner-up Cherry Creek (190). The Raiders won six of the 12 event championships for the second year in a row.
Regis Jesuit’s Cody Lippert carries off the Class 5A boys lacrosse state championship trophy the Raiders won May 17, 2014. (Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)
Regis Jesuit: Class 5A boys lacrosse — Coach Jim Soran’s Raiders avenged their only loss of the season to Cherry Creek with a 14-7 victory over the Bruins on May 17. Juniors Matt Soran (5) and Chet Dunstan (4) combined for nine goals to spark the offense and junior goalie Brett Quartuccio stopped 19 of the 26 shots he faced for Regis Jesuit, which finished 18-1 and collected the program’s first state title since 2011.
Regis Jesuit: Class 5A girls golf — In a gritty two-day performance on a challenging course, coach George Miller’s Raiders won the program’s third overall state title and first since moving up to 5A. Sophomore Mary Weinstein came out of a weather delay with a birdie putt on Hole No. 18 to cap a strong finish from Regis Jesuit, which rallied from a six-stroke deficit to top Continental League rival Rock Canyon by three strokes.
TRACK & FIELD
Cherokee Trail’s Brandon Singleton: 5A boys 200 and 400 meters — Though a dropped baton in the 4×400-meter relay essentially cost the Cougars a shot at repeating as 5A state champions, Singleton did all he could to make it happen. The Oklahoma State-bound speedster, who was edged by just 0.02 of a second as the anchor leg in the 4×200-meter relay, first won the 400 in 47.74 seconds May 17 and followed that with a victory in the 200 in 21.49 seconds.
Eaglecrest’s 5A girls state championship 800 sprint medley relay team, top center, Omotumininu Olatipo and Tori Coombe, and bottom center, Tashay Brown and Alicia Taurchini/ (Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)
Eaglecrest’s Tashay Brown, Tori Coombe, Omotumininu Olatipo, Alicia Taurchini: 5A girls 800 meter sprint medley relay — Brown, Olatipo and Taurchini were part of the 2013 sprint medley relay that finished first in prelims, but got edged for the title in the final. That didn’t happen this season, as the Raptors — with Coombe in place of graduated Ashley Windom — blazed across the finish line in 1 minute, 44.19 seconds, a full 1.5 seconds in front of Denver East, which denied them last season’s crown.
BOYS SWIMMING
Regis Jesuit’s Hennessey Stuart: 5A boys 200 yard individual medley, 100 yard backstroke — The North Carolina State-bound Stuart dazzled in his final state meet, as he won two individual and two relay titles in the Raiders’ dominating victory. Stuart broke his own Colorado and 5A state meet record with a time of 47.24 seconds in the 100 backstroke, while his Automatic All-American time of 1:47.77 won the 200 IM fairly comfortably.
Regis Jesuit’s Kyle Goodwin: 5A boys diving — Goodwin’s dominance of 5A continued with his third consecutive state championship victory. The junior star’s attempts attracted the full attention of the gathered crowd at VMAC and he dazzled, finishing with a score of 559.25 points that won the event by nearly 70 points.
Regis Jesuit’s Quinlan Stuart: 5A boys 100 yard breaststroke — Stuart prevailed to win his first state championship in a field where Aurora swimmers took up six of the eight spots in the finals. The junior touched the wall in 57.20 seconds to collect his first individual state title.
Regis Jesuit’s Hennessey Stuart, Quinlan Stuart, Christopher Morales, Will Pieseski: 5A boys 200 yard medley relay — The foursome set a tone for the meet for the Raiders with their performance, a nearly three-second victory in the opening event that earned them Automatic All-American status.
Regis Jesuit’s Hennessey Stuart, Mitchell Bruckman, Christopher Dawson, Austin Phillips: 5A boys 400 yard freestyle relay — A spectacular meet was capped by a dazzling relay performance as the Raiders set the Colorado and 5A state meet record in the event for a second straight season, touching the wall in a blazing 3:00.84.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. Facebook: Aurora Prep Sentinel
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